Support U-M — and science: Vote today in STAT Madness!

Later this week, the U-M men’s and women’s basketball teams will compete in their first round of the “March Madness” tournament of NCAA basketball.

But a team of U-M scientists is way ahead of them. They’ve gotten to the third round of a virtual tournament of science known as STAT Madness, being run by the medical news organization STAT.

They’re up against North Carolina State, and a “Wolfpack” team of scientists that entered the tournament on the strength of their research on cardiac stem cells. The U-M team, led by Evan Snitkin, Ph.D. of Microbiology & Immunology, has developed a new way to study “superbug” bacteria in health care environments and try to outsmart their drug-resistant ways to improve patient safety.

More than 224,000 votes have already been cast for STAT Madness teams, and every vote counts.

The deadline is Thursday night — around the time the U-M men’s basketball team will be finishing its game.

The Michigan Medicine Web site does not provide specific medical advice and does not endorse any medical or professional service obtained through information provided on this site or any links to this site.